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It does what it promises but it's not for me.

I am fully aware that I could do with losing the few extra pounds that are camping out around my midriff. I am about half a stone heavier than I should be and I am open to losing poundage as painlessly as possible. I thought swapping the regular sugar in my tea for Silver Spoon's Half Spoon might be helpful.

It seems a laughably easy win on the dieting front. The front of the pack proudly proclaims that half a spoonful of this stuff contains all the taste and texture and yet half the calories of a spoonful of regular sugar. 2g of Half Spoon contains just 8 kcal. Half the calories - all the taste? A no brainer, surely.

And they are right. This product, which is granulated sugar with a 'touch of sweetener,' looks and tastes exactly like regular granulated sugar. There is no discernible difference in taste when I add it into my tea. The pack says you use half your normal amount of sugar when using this product - so adding half a teaspoon of half spoon is like adding a full teaspoon of normal sugar taste-wise. Sweet.

So why am I never going to buy it again? My daughter, (with the A level in Chemistry) wrinkled her nose and pointed out the ingredient list.

I looked up the ingredients on the internet. Both are widely used and deemed safe for human consumption - but neither is without controversy. And there is enough controversy about them for me to decide that I don't want to prefer this 'sugar' to ordinary sugar. Type these ingredients into the search bar and a ton of information appears; studies on mice, tests, articles for and against these ingredients. To a layman, this is mind-boggling.

Look - All I wanted to do was sweeten my drink - I don't want to have to worry about anything else.

In short - I am not going to recommend this product. For me, it comes with too many questions. I am going back to plain old ordinary, fattening sugar and will just have to cut down in other ways and hit the exercise bike to lose the extra pounds.

Availability: 500g bag £1.20 at Asda, 1kg bag £2 at Asda.

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A good product, does what it says on the packet.

I am always watching my weight (not doing great at the moment!) and using a sweetener seems to give me a clear conscience. I would feel very guilty if I put REAL sugar in my coffee (and I feel REAL guilty about the biscuit(s) I have alongside my coffee!!).I therefore always have sweetener in my drinks and I tend to go for Canderel, simply because I'm used to it.However, there are times when you need sugar and a little sweetener tablet just won't work.This is where half spoon comes in. It looks and feels just like sugar but only has half the calories. It is made of real sugar which has been combined with a small amount of sweetener.

Uses

I use it to sprinkle a little bit on cereals (especially Weetabix). I also use it in plain yoghurt and this time of year I also sprinkle a little bit on strawberries when they are not quite sweet enough.You can use it in baking but I have only done that occasionally. In my opinion, if you're going to make a cake and eat it, you might as well put real sugar in it. Still, for somebody who is seriously counting calories, it would be worth experimenting.

Taste

The taste and texture are very convincing and you honestly can't tell you are not eating sugar, you just have to be careful not to use too much as it is obviously a lot sweeter than sugar. There is no after taste like you get with some sweeteners.

Calories

Half Spoon and regular sugar both have 16 calories per teaspoon but you would only need half the amount of Half Spoon sugar. Therefore you would save on half the calories!

Price

A 500 gr packet will cost about £1.49. I think it's good value but obviously it is a lot more expensive than granulated sugar.

Conclusion

This is a good product as you do not feel deprived and you feel like you can have sugar. However it is not "calorie-free" and you still have to be careful and be aware of how much you are using.

I am only awarding it 4 stars simply because I am currently very upset with myself for not being able to squeeze my bottom into my summer clothes!!

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Silver Spoon Half Spoon Granulated Sugar

Since giving up smoking almost three years ago I have been putting on weight at the rate of a stone a year, obviously this can't go on for ever as I will not be able to move so I have been trying to cut certain things out of my diet recently in an attempt to lose a little weight without actually going on a diet. I have tried many sweeteners in my hot drinks over the years but never found one that I could really use as an alternative to sugar without ruining the enjoyment of my drink. Recently though, I have discovered is Silver Spoon Half Spoon Granulated Sugar, I drink a lot of tea and take two sugars every time so my daily sugar intake is very high, the idea of halving my intake without losing any of the taste really appealed to me so I thought I would give it a try.

Information

Half Spoon sugar costs roughly twice the price of normal sugar, but since you only use half as much, I suppose you could say it costs the same price as normal. There are 8kcal of energy per serving and 2g of carbohydrates, both these figures are only slightly less than ordinary sugar, but when you consider you will be using only half the amount you normally do it is a lot less. Half Spoon sugar is a combination of normal sugar and sweeteners to make it taste the same as normal sugar when using only half the amount. It can be used in baking and for normal everyday uses such as in your tea/coffee or on your cereal. The packaging is fairly similar to ordinary Silver Spoon sugar really but the packaging is dark blue and the front reads half spoon.

Is It Any Good?

So it is supposed to taste exactly the same as normal sugar but allow you to use only half the amount you normally would, so does it do what it claims? Well yes it does in my opinion, in tea I take only one teaspoon of half spoon and to be completely honest it tastes exactly the same as two teaspoons of normal sugar. I also use it on my morning Weetabix, I have two Weetabix every morning and used to sprinkle one teaspoon of normal sugar over each Weetabix biscuit, I now use just one teaspoon of half spoon sugar over the two biscuits and it tastes the same as before, so taste wise it is brilliant and does exactly what it says on the tin.

It also manages to smell the same (if you are in to smelling sugar that is) but then to be honest it normal sugar mainly, it just has sweeteners added to allow you to get the same taste whilst using less. The appearance of the half spoon sugar is exactly as you would expect, it is normal sugar grains with bits of white sweetener thrown in here and there.

I have also used half spoon in baking, I made a sponge cake a couple of weeks ago and used half the amount of sugar in the recipe and the normal amount of everything else, the result was a perfect cake that tasted just as it should do, so it seems to do the job in all applications.

The only real problem arises when we are visited by a close friend or family member, someone who knows us well enough to enter our kitchen and make themselves a cup of tea or coffee. My brother-in-law did this the other day and was kind enough to offer me a cup, unfortunately when I tasted my cup of tea it had two teaspoons of half spoon it as we store our sugar in a sugar bowl so he had not realised it was any different to normal sugar. This resulted in my tea tasting like it had four sugars in it! When I told him about it he said he thought his brew tasted a little sweet!

Overall

Overall would I recommend Silver Spoon Half Spoon Sugar? Yes I would, the only real problem I have outlined above is not really something that happens very often in reality. Taste wise I believe it passes the test completely, I have never had any complaints from guests who have called for a brew and have used it on cereal and in baking as well as in hot drinks. As mentioned previously I have tried many different sweeteners in the past and could not get used to them in my tea, but this seems to do the job perfectly. Whilst I am still taking in normal sugar as well as sweetener I have halved my intake and that can only be a good thing. The price could be lower, I don't see why it has to be twice the price of normal sugar really, but I suppose they are playing on the fact that as you will only use half the amount so it will last twice as long so cost the same in the long run and whilst I would like to see them bring the price down, I am willing to pay the current price due to the health and diet side of it. I suppose the other plus point is that if you buy the same size bag as you normally buy normal sugar you will only need to put it on your shopping list half as often.

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A waste of money in my opinion, I think I'll stick with regular granulated sugar.

Even though I'm dieting I still enjoy baking for myself and my family, the problem being that the calories for my baked goods are going through the roof simply because of the amount of sugar needed to produce half decent pastries, cakes and other such goodies. Last month a lady at my Weight Watchers meeting mentioned a fairly new product from Silver Spoon, Half Spoon Granulated Sugar.

I decided to buy a bag and try it next time I did some baking, the fact that this is real sugar mixed with sweeteners means the calorie content will naturally be lower but Silver Spoon claim this product is sweeter than normal sugar so you only need to use half as much.

I don't take sugar in my hot drinks so can't comment on that aspect of the product, although I must say I have been rather impressed with it after using it to bake a batch of fairy cakes at the weekend. The sugar stirred in nicely and the finished result was lovely and sweet, just as if I'm used proper sugar. There was no obvious difference in the taste or texture of the cakes and the Half Spoon is just as easy to blend.

The following day I wanted to caramelize the topping of some of the cakes so I set about melting the sugar down, the results weren't so great using this method and the tops of my cakes did not turn the golden brown I had been expecting which is presumably the fault of the added sweeteners as they may taste like sugar but they cannot be expected to act like it.

Now, I've just checked the nutritional information for Half Spoon and I'm not impressed. A teaspoon of regular Silver Spoon Granulated Sugar contains 16 calories, while the recommended half a teaspoon of Silver Spoon Half Spoon is 8 calories - so really you're not saving on calories at all as that is exactly half the amount as if you'd used the normal sugar!

While you may be advised to use half the amount, when it comes to recipes that's hard as dividing the amount of sugar in the recipe is obviously going to change the overall texture or density of the finished product. So you are saving absolutely no calories whatsoever!

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a great substitute to regular sugar

Silver Spoon Half Spoon Granulated Sugar....

Since trying to loose a lot of weight, I have looked at pretty much everything I eat or drink and I must say I do like a couple of spoonfuls of sugar in a cup of tea from time to time and even though I have tried sweetener, I just don't enjoy the tea as much. Therefore the next best thing I thought would be to get something in between sugar and sweetener.

Silver Spoon's half spoon granulated sugar is just the thing as it is sugar with sweeteners in it therefore not giving the whole fake taste that I often find you get from using sweeteners. It also offers the taste of real sugar but at a lower calories content. Per teaspoon of this half spoon sugar you will be in taking 11 calories which is only slightly fewer than regular sugar which would be 16 calories. This may not sound much but of course I am having 2 spoonfuls which makes a saving of 10 calories per cup of tea. If you add this to the calorie and fat saving I have made by switching to skimmed milk then the effort really does seem worth it.

Upon using the sugar I noticed that it actually looks just like standard sugar and even though I have swapped it over my partner hasn't even said a thing! The half spoon sugar contains sugar (obviously), Maltodextrin, sweeteners (Aspartame, Acesulfame - K). This doesn't sound particularly good but all sweeteners have this man made horrible sounding names.

Anyway this granulated half spoon sugar costs only fractionally more than regular sugar at £1.20 odd and you get 750 grams per packet. This does seem to last me a couple of weeks and I think it is a good price for what you are getting. Of course when you see the Silver Spoon name you really do understand you are getting quality and a product that should meet expectations.

The half spoon sugar is suitable for vegetarians and has a good two year best before date. The design of the packaging is expensive looking, classy and well thought out. It gives all the information you would need written on the packet and more besides.

Really I can say nothing bad about this Silver Spoon Half Spoon sugar. It is a reasonable price, it has few calories and really I don't think may people would notice the difference between this and regular sugar.

A star rating of 5 is very apt for this product and a good recommendation. I hope this has been of some help to you. Thank you for taking the time to read.

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Evil sugar. stick to the normal stuff.

---28-11-2008---

Pay day is once again upon me and it is a bloody small miracle that I have made it this long without killing someone. In the last month I've had a lot of man trouble. Men have been playing me like a board game. Any quirky chess related queen comments can be kept to yourself.

The last couple of days in particular have been a real joy between loosing my debit card, my mum loosing her job and my friend loosing her girlfriend, I've been having a whale of a time. At the moment I'm waiting on the gas man coming. He's taking forever and my arm is getting sore!! (I jest)

So, since I STILL have nothing to entertain me, I thought I'd have a cup of tea. And then I thought I'd review it. Enjoy!

---Double is always better---

Ok, so it's not the TEA that I'm reviewing, it's the sugar I'm using in it. It's not just ANY sugar though, this is SPECIAL sugar.

A couple of months ago I decided to try and cut down on bad things. Sex, drugs and money are pretty much on empty anyway so I decided to go for caffeine and sugar. Off I popped to the magical land of ASDA (I thought I'd take a break from Tesco) and grabbed me some Redbush tea and, for the princely sum of £1.90 some Silverspoon "Half Spoon". Nearly a quid more expensive than normal sugar. Grr.

The whole idea behind the sugar is that it tastes twice as sweet as normal sugar so you only need to use and therefore consume half the amount you normally use. Amazing! How do they do it? Basically what you are buying isn't sugar at all. Well...part of it is. The other part is sweetener. That's just downright cheating if you ask me!!

---Does it work?---

In theory, this stuff rules. In practice... well that's a little different. Upon making my normal cup of tea, I usually put 2 teaspoons of sugar in it, no milk. After breaking out my calculator and spending hours going through tough formulas I decided that I would only, in theory, need 1 teaspoon of this magical sugar.

Upon taking a sip, I nearly died. My tea seemed about half as sweet as it usually did. I felt abused. They had taken me in! I didn't know what to do. Then an idea came to me.

In an act of rebellion, I proceeded to pile another whole teaspoon of sugar in, bumping it up to my usual amount. Everything was good again. I was happy and the world was ok. So that was the sugar written off as a complete, tits up failure.

---But wait, there's more---

A nasty surprise was to be waiting for me just round the corner. I had bought the sugar so I thought I may as well use it till I run out then buy the normal stuff again. Weeks passed and everything was fine. I'm not a complete tea fiend so the big bags last me a good few months.

One evening I ventured out to my mothers house where she offered me a cup of tea. "oh no, I shouldn't, I've been drinking caffeine free, mother!" I said and saw a look of confusion pass over her face. "...you're an idiot. Have a cup of tea, its freezing" she replied.

I politely asked her for two of her normal boring sugars and was given just that. Upon taking a sip, I nearly died! My tea seemed about half as sweet as it usually did! De ja vous? No, just bloody impostor shaped sugar! It seems that the sugar was, in fact, doing its job and doubling the sweetness of my cup. It's just really hard to tell until you go back to normal sugar. It's similar to how I never thought there was any difference in the quality of videos and DVD's till I took a moment of fancy and hooked up the video player and was appalled at the awful quality.

As you can imagine, this now presents me with a bit of a predicament. I either stick with the double spoon and pile the equivalent of 4 sugars into my tea (and I would like to point out I am a firm believer that anything more than 3 sugars is just wrong) and 6 in my coffee (the caffeine free kick is firmly over) or I go back to normal tea and have it taste about as sweet as the inside of a well used jock strap. (that's not very sweet by the way) (not from experience)

---Evil Dead...sugar...---

And now for the bit I can tell you are all aching for! What does it do to your insides? To be honest I don't really have a clue, but if you wish I shall force feed a small child nothing but sugar for a month then take him to the doctor and ask? No? Oh well. Ruin all my fun. Instead I'll just tell you the "nutritional values" and you can decide for yourself whether it's going to kill you from the inside out. AKA: I'm being lazy.

Rather handily, the side of the pack gives the values for normal sugar and crazy magic half sugar. The first thing I notice is that they are tipping the scales wildly on the nutritional values by assuming you will actually only be using half of the stuff.

For 1 teaspoon of normal sugar, you'd be consuming about 4g of carbohydrates. In half a teaspoon of the magic stuff, you will consume but 2g! So in reality I'm getting the exact same amount. Rather fantastically the only other thing IN sugar is calories. In half a teaspoon of the magic stuff, there are 8 calories. Less than 1% of your recommended daily intake. This is the only thing it doesn't compare with normal sugar which makes me a tad wary, but I doubt it's some big conspiracy. Over all, as long as you're having tea with sugar and not the other way round, you SHOULD live. Though I take no responsibility over that.

---Sweets for my sweet---

At this point in time, I am about to run out of the magic sugar. When I go for my monthly shopping later on tonight, I will begrudgingly be buying another pack of the stuff. It's sneaky and possibly more addictive than cocaine. If you are like me then I recommend you stay away from this evil impostor sugar. If you are trying to cut down, you may as well actually cut down rather than replace, otherwise when you go back to real sugar it will make it harder to kick it. If you aren't like me and you can actually taste the difference in the sweetness, then go right ahead you smug git. You'll love the stuff!

I'm only giving this 2 stars due to the fact it is an evil impostor. the quality of the product is very good as is the taste in the right amounts, but the evilness of it all sickened me to the point of taking way stars. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to shout at Scottish Hydro since their Monkey with a toolbox hasn't turned up. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to shout at Scottish Hydro since their Monkey with a toolbox hasn't turned up.